Give us this day our daily bread. And tofu. And kale. And squasharoni.

I returned from Kripalu excited about a lot of things — the gorgeous warm weather, the soft-spoken Ayurvedic doctor I met with, the beauty of chanting with Krishna Das, the grace of meditating with Sharon Salzberg. But as J pointed out after my umpteenth very detailed description of the vegetarian buffet offerings I sampled throughout the weekend, the food there absolutely blew me away. The textures, the bright colors, the variety of choices, the quality of the ingredients — even the efficiency of the kitchen staff was simply amazing. Without overeating (I had to concentrate on that) I can honestly say that I savored every single bite and was, at times, embarrassingly excited about the offerings.

There was soup at every meal (including breakfast), every imaginable type of healthy grain, piles of sauteed green vegetables sprinkled with healthy seasonings, 3 or 4 types of fresh baked goods (including a moist pumpkin bread, perfect, hearty, oatmeal scones, and various hot-from-the-oven loaves wrapped in towels). One night there was a gooey Mac and Cheese with spinach, and next to it one of my favorites of the weekend, Squasharoni (which I'm making tonight as a matter of fact, and the recipe I linked to here is right out of the Kripalu Cookbook though they don't credit it as such). There was all manner of marinated tofu, and a wide variety of sauces to pour onto it. There was fresh salad and a cornucopia of toppings and more dressings. If for some reason you didn't feel like having any of the buffet items you could head over to the sandwich bar and grill yourself a paninni in one of their two presses. And in the morning if pancakes, oatmeal, fruit compote, cheesy grits, or poached eggs over mushrooms and onions didn't appeal, there was homemade granola and bins of nuts and seeds for sprinkling on it, and soy or organic yogurt to bathe the whole crunchy mess in.

Wash it all down with tea (there was a whole cabinet full to choose from), organic orange juice (not from concentrate, of course), grape juice. Grab a piece of fruit for later or, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, a piece of sweet dessert. On Saturday it was this shiny chocolate frosted cake.

Heavenly. I ate most of my meals outside, including a chilly early morning breakfast. Also, since I didn't know anyone there, I ate them in silence, concentrating on my food. And breakfast is always silent at Kripalu if you eat in the dining room, so you can set your intention for the day ahead. Most mornings my intention for the day included trying to figure out how I could sneak another muffin or two out of the dining room.

Prior to last weekend I considered myself pretty good at cooking healthful vegetarian meals, but those ten Kripalu meals turned that notion on its head. When I bought my copy of their cookbook before leaving on Sunday the girl behind the counter asked if I wanted to browse through it first (it was on a shelf behind her). "No" I said, "I've been eating here for 4 days, I know it's going to be good." I'm pining for their buffet line. Until I return, I'll cook as if I work in their kitchen.

PS: Last night I made this this red lentil paté and served it in warm, thick slices - really good, but if you're going to try any of the recipes I highlighted here try the squasharoni first and let me know what you think!